Sri Lanka's openers confidently negotiated an awkward session at the end of a rain-interrupted fourth day at Lord's on Sunday, setting up the prospect of a fascinating finish to the third and final Test against England.
Dinesh Chandimal smashed a maiden double hundred and Prabath Jayasuriya claimed 12 wickets in a dream debut to script Sri Lanka's series-levelling victory by an innings and 39 runs in the second Test against Australia in Galle on Monday.
The first Test, played at the same venue, had also petered out into a predictable draw late on the final day.
Weather continued to hamper play in the match New Zealand must win to level the series after the hosts won the opener
But Pant took the game away from the Lankans by going after the bowling as soon as he walked to the crease, bringing up his fifty with seven fours and two sixes.
Openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva struck patient half-centuries to help Sri Lanka secure a comprehensive nine-wicket victory against Pakistan in the second Test and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series on Sunday.
Virat Kohli is the first Indian captain to win two series in Sri Lanka.
Jasprit Bumrah was keen to share the plaudits with the rest of the attack, even though he was the undoubted star of the bowling show during India's seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc picked up his second five-wicket haul in the match to lead Australia to a comprehensive 366-run victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka and a 2-0 series win.
Cummins was left to look on anxiously as the Australian side assembled near the pitch to watch the medical team attend to Karunaratne, who was stretchered off the ground and taken to hospital in a neck brace.
Pacers Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Gamage have been added to the Sri Lankan squad ahead of the third Test against India starting in Pallekele on Saturday.
With just one win, Sri Lanka are currently at the sixth spot with four points and will have to win rest of their four matches to stay in contention for the semi-final.
Sri Lanka have not played a match at the World Cup since June 4, forced to split points with Bangladesh and Pakistan following two washed out games.
Mathews inspired Sri Lanka to its first One-day international series sweep in more than three years
India set Sri Lanka a daunting 410-run victory target and dented the tourists' top order to maintain their iron grip on the third and final Test on Tuesday.
Chasing 268 to go 1-0 up in the two-Test series, Karunaratne's 161-run opening stand with Lahiru Thirimanne (64) set the tone for a successful chase at the Galle International Stadium.
He becomes the second fastest Indian to 100 ODI wickets
Sri Lanka will welcome back opener Tillakaratne Dilshan for the second and final Test against New Zealand in Colombo starting on Sunday after he recovered from a back injury.
Sri Lanka suffered a big blow with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan being ruled out of the first Test against New Zealand starting in Galle on Saturday as he is yet to recover from his back injury.
Sri Lanka have suffered a double injury blow with batsman Dimuth Karunaratne almost certainly out of the World Cup and spinner Rangana Herath likely to miss at least a week of action, Mahela Jayawardene said on Friday.
Australia bundled out Sri Lanka for 212 but endured a top order wobble of their own before reaching 98/3 in reply after a frenetic, spin-dominated day one of the opening Test in Galle on Wednesday.
Australia were on the verge of a 3-0 series sweep after reducing Sri Lanka to 225 for seven with a slender lead of 87 at close of play on a dramatic third day of the third Test on Saturday.
Sri Lanka need to win their final two games, and hope for favourable outcomes in England and Pakistan's next fixtures.
Mike Hussey scored an unbeaten 115 to drive Australia towards an aggressive declaration at 450 for five before Sri Lanka were reduced to 87-4 at stumps on the second day of the first Test on Saturday.
Rangana Herath exploited New Zealand's weakness against spin to claim six wickets as Sri Lanka scored a 10-wicket victory on the third day of the first Test in Galle on Monday.
Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath continued his love affair with the Galle International Cricket Stadium as he took five for 65 to help dismiss New Zealand for 221 on the opening day of the first Test.
Saturday's incident occurred in the 58th over when Jadeja, after fielding off his own bowling, threw the ball back at Dimuth Karunaratne who had not left his crease.
Openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro hit unbeaten half-centuries as New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their World Cup opener in Cardiff on Saturday.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja could do with a break, which will allow India to try out new players in the Caribbean.
According to a statement from the ICC, "the venue has received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process".
Sri Lanka selectors made seven changes from the Test squad who are trailing Pakistan 1-0 in the three-Test series when they named a 15-man squad on Tuesday for five One-day Internationals.
Jadeja sent a message asking for declaration as he wanted his side to exploit the variable bounce
Lasith Malinga claimed five wickets as Sri Lanka beat Scotland by 183 runs in the one-day international tri-series, also featuring Ireland, at the Grange Cricket Club ground in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Sri Lankan legendary fast bowler Lasith Malinga will retire from One-day International cricket after the first match of a three-match series against Bangladesh, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said on Monday.
The tourists reached the close at 42 for one in their reply, a deficit of 316 runs that they will seek to wipe out on a slow pitch on day three in the first match of a two-Test series.
Virat Kohli has held on to his fifth spot in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen.
Sri Lanka pace bowler Lasith Malinga ripped through the England batting line-up with four wickets as the former champions handed the favourites a 20-run defeat in a low-scoring World Cup match.
The ICC Awards will comprise a total of 13 individual recognitions in all, as well as five Team of the Year announcements for each format across both men's and women's cricket.
'Playing in our home conditions will be a lot better for us. We can do it in Sri Lanka.'
India captain Rohit Sharma was all praise for Shreyas Iyer, saying the promising batter had big shoes to fill following the axing of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane and grabbed the opportunity with both hands in the just-concluded Test series against Sri Lanka.
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